The concept of fishing goes back before the beginning of recorded history, and man has continued to fish to provide food to eat and, today, as a recreational sport. As time has past, we have developed more and more refined fishing equipment and techniques to attract and catch fish. However, as more and more fisherman are drawn to the sport, we have begun to endanger some species of fish. In order to preserve endanger species and prevent other species from becoming endangered, limits have now been imposed fisherman as to size, type and quantity of fish they may keep. Catch and release fishing, where a fisherman releases fish, has become the single most important conservation tactic for the average fisherman.
However, the catch and release tactic may not actually save the fish which have been caught. A fish which has been hooked and released may very well be fatally injured. The hook removing process is particularly dangerous to the fish. During this time the fish is generally out of the water where they cannot breath; and, for a novice, the hook removing process may take long enough to endanger the life of the fish. Even more often, however, the process of removing the hook causes severe trauma to the area where the fish was hooked. Especially, if the hook was in the esophagus or close to vital organs, the wound and associated trauma may eventually kill the fish. An additional danger is created when the fisherman is removing the hook from the fish. The removal process frequently disturbs the mucus which protects the fish from germs. When this protective coating is disturbed or removed, the fish is more likely to sicken and die.
A further danger, in this case to the fisherman, is damage to the hand being used to release the hook. Some fish have characteristics which may injure the fisherman. These characteristics include such things as sharp teeth, aggressiveness, sharp gill plates, and dangerous thorns, spikes or fins. These characteristics increase the chances that a fish may wound a fisherman who is trying to release a hook from the fish's flesh.
Therefore, it is clear that there is need in the industry for a device which removes a hook from a fish while causing a minimum of damage and trauma to the fish and helps protects the fisherman from injury.